An area of low pressure tracked from the Tennessee Valley on February 4th to across our area during February 5th. A cold air mass was locked in at the surface along and north and west of the Interstate 95 corridor, however warmer air moving in aloft resulted in an icing event to occur across a portion of the region.

Watches/Warnings/Advisories

A Winter Storm Watch was issued at 3:11 PM on Monday, February 3rd for the following areas: Hunterdon, Morris, Sussex and Warren counties in New Jersey; Berks, Carbon, Eastern Chester, Eastern Montgomery, Lehigh, Monroe, Northampton, Upper Bucks, Western Chester and Western Montgomery counties in Pennsylvania. At 3:45 AM on February 4th, the Winter Storm Watch was upgraded to a Winter Storm Warning for all areas within the initial watch. In addition, a Winter Storm Warning was issued for: New Castle County in Delaware; Cecil County in Maryland; Camden, Gloucester, Mercer, Middlesex, Northwestern Burlington, Salem and Somerset counties in New Jersey; Delaware, Philadelphia and Lower Bucks counties in Pennsylvania at this time. Also at this time, a Winter Weather Advisory was issued for: Kent County in Delaware; Caroline, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties in Maryland; Atlantic, Cumberland, Monmouth, Ocean and Southeastern Burlington counties in New Jersey.

At 7:50 AM on Wednesday, February 5th, the Winter Weather Advisory was cancelled. Also at this time, the Winter Storm Warning was cancelled for the following areas: Camden, Gloucester, Monmouth, Northwestern Burlington and Salem counties in New Jersey. At 8:47 AM on February 5th, the Winter Storm Warning was cancelled for New Castle County in Delaware; Cecil County in Maryland and Delaware and Philadelphia counties in Pennsylvania. The Winter Storm Warning for Mercer and Middlesex counties in New Jersey was cancelled at 10:55 AM on February 5th. At 12:57 PM on February 5th, the Winter Storm Warning was cancelled for: Hunterdon and Somerset counties in New Jersey; Berks, Eastern Chester, Eastern Montgomery, Lehigh, Lower Bucks, Northampton, Upper Bucks, Western Chester and Western Montgomery in Pennsylvania. The remaining warnings were cancelled at 3:18 PM on Wednesday, February 5th.

Precipitation/Temperatures/Winds

Across New Jersey, snowfall amounts ranged from 7 to 10 inches in Northern Sussex County with 3 to 4 inches in other locations within Sussex. Morris County only saw values between 2 to 5 inches across the county and other locations in New Jersey tended to check in with values from 1 to 4 inches. Eastern Pennsylvania generally had snowfall readings of 6 to 10 inches across most locations. Significant ice accumulations occurred along the Interstate 95 corridor, with amounts around one quarter of an inch. Some places just to the north and west of Philadelphia and Trenton reported ice accumulations of near one half of an inch.

Temperatures generally ranged in the mid 30s across the region with some coastal locations reporting 40 degrees. Winds generally remained northwesterly at 10 to 15 miles per hour across the area.

Significant Impacts/Aspects

The snowfall caused travel conditions to become hazardous with numerous accidents reported across the region. Many offices and schools were closed in advance of the storm. Significant ice accumulations occurred along the Interstate 95 corridor, with amounts around one quarter of an inch. Some places just to the north and west of Philadelphia and Trenton reported ice accumulations of near one half of an inch. This, in combination with wet snow that was on the trees from a previous storm, resulted in numerous tree limbs and power lines being downed and thousands of customers without power. During the peak of the storm, PECO reported about 715,000 customers without power. This compared to 850,000 customers without power during Superstorm Sandy (October 2012). The hardest hit areas during this winter storm were without power for about a week, and local power companies brought in out of state power crews to help with the power restoration efforts.

Notes

Information contained in this summary is preliminary. More complete and/or detailed information may be contained in subsequent monthly NOAA storm data publications.